Earl Mills was born at home on April 26, 1921 in Suwannee County Florida. He attended Midway a country school located off Hwy 49 from first grade to eighth and entered Suwannee High School before joining the US military during his eleventh grade. During his eleventh grade year, mills enlisted into the National Guard in Live Oak, Fl. In November, Mills' status was changed to active duty and he was sent to Camp Blanding. During his time in the service, Mills obtained his GED. Following a short time with the National Guard, Mills enlisted in the US Army and was stationed at Fort Benning GA. He was deployed to Normandy and on June 6, 1944, Mills was one of 6,600 troops that invaded Normandy by parachuting from a plane around midnight. In mid July, Mills and his group returned to England to reload and wait for their new assignment. It came September 17, 1944 as they parachuted into Holland. Mills remained in Holland for two months before heading by truck to Mourmelon, France. They resupplied and took on new soldiers. On December 16, German broke through the American lines in Bastogne, Belgium. The 101st including Mills heading to Bastogne by truck on December 18. They marched on from Bastogne until they meet up with the Germans troops. By December 21, the American troops were completely surrounded but kept fighting until General Patton sent in tanks and artillery. This firer power lead to the defeat of the German Army. On January 19, 1945, Mills was wounded by an overhead artillery burst and was taken to a hospital in Paris. He spent a week in the hospital and was returned to the battlefield as they needed everyone that was able to fight. When Mills got out of the service he went home and thirty days later enlisted with the United States Air Force, serving from January 1946 until March of 1961. Mills returned to Suwannee County and took a US Postal Service job.